Boundaries of new ‘super councils’ are revealed

THESE are the boundaries for Northern Ireland’s 11 new “super councils” which in three years should replace the Province’s 26 local authorities.

The project has been bedevilled with rows and delays but SDLP Environment Minister Alex Attwood insists he is committed to taking the reorganisation forward – despite personally opposing the 11-council model that the DUP and Sinn Fein have told him to implement.

On Tuesday, Mr Attwood took the first formal step to cutting the size of local government by laying the draft Local Government (Boundaries) Order before the Assembly.

The environment minister said: “I believe in radical reform. This extends to across public policy in Northern Ireland. It includes councils.”

On Tuesday, the political body which is overseeing the reforms – the Regional Transition Committee, made up of a single political representative from each of the new council areas and chaired by Mr Attwood – met for the first time.

After the meeting Sinn Fein Mayor of Newry Charlie Casey claimed that it had been “frustrating” due to the “ridiculously slow progress” of reform.

Elections to the 11 new “super councils” are expected to take place on the same day as the 2014 European poll.